Lakewood, Colo. --The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels never could get on track offensively and saw their season come to an end with a 71-47 defeat to the tournament host and No. 1 seed Colorado Christian Cougars in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Central Regional semifinals Thursday night (Mar. 8) in Lakewood, Colo. on the campus of Colorado Christian.
The Lady Evangels (11-19) struggled to score out of the gate and fell into an early 19-3 hole as Christina Whitelaw scored or assisted on five of the Cougars first six buckets.
MACU trailed 40-15 at the break, shooting only 14.8 percent (4-of-27) in the opening stanza.
The second half didn't start any better as the Cougars (14-15) scored the first five points and eventually stretched the lead to as many as 35 on a three by Bre McBeth that made it 66-31 with 8:54 remaining.
The Lady Evangels kept fighting though and concluded the game on a 17-6 run to create the final 24-point margin.
Nicole Wittman wrapped up her playing career at MACU with a game-high 20 points, including hitting a perfect 12-of-12 at the charity stripe.
Margaret Butler led the Lady Evangels with eight rebounds.
Whitelaw did a little of everything to power the Cougars with team-highs of 18 points, 13 boards, seven assists and five steals.
The Lady Evangels, the defending NCCAA Central Regional champions, will be bolstered next season by the return of All-Conference Honorable-Mention performers
Parris Price and
Kourtni Williams, who will return for their senior seasons.
